Five Days Later

  The House Anu common room buzzed with tense, electric energy. Upperclassmen lined the walls, some perched on the staircases, others leaning against doorways, arms crossed as they observed the recruits gathered in the center of the room. It was early morning, and the rising sun across the ocean beamed through the room’s windows. The air smelled of freshly baked muffins, cooked sausage, and peppermint spiced tea that Ol’ Mumm brewed in the mornings. We didn’t have classes today, or morning training, because today we had our mysterious “trial.”

  At the front of the room, Waelid stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore the house’s maroon cape, which had been draped above the mantel until today when he wanted to have that extra regal flair.

  Galina, our house’s coleader, stood just behind him, arms crossed and impassive as she surveyed the group. I had learned through some of the upperclassmen that Galina was from a country called Ekate. So, to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, I looked it up. Ekate is an island nation in the far south, almost on the other side of the planet. And because of a natural phenomenon that happened hundreds of years ago, the skin of the people of Ekate had hardened into a tough but flexible material. The people, especially the women, of Ekate were supremely gifted in magic, so the fact that Galina was here, isolated from her people on the other side of the world, was a little sad. It also kind of made sense why she was in such a bad attitude all the time.

  “We will split into two groups. You nine are with me,” Waelid said, nodding to over half our housemates. “We will act as the larger, louder, and full-force unit to sweep through the first floor. Our goal is to make as much noise as possible so that all eyes are on us. Meanwhile, you six will be with Galina.” Waelid smiled and looked at me. Then Galina stepped up in front of Waelid.

  “You six have performed the best in class this week according to your professors, despite our initial assumptions,” Galina said, eyeing me. “We will move quietly and with precision. Although we don’t know the goal of the trial, we know it will require a retrieval of some sort. We move fast, while Waelid moves loudly. That is the basis of our plan. Questions?”

  None of the first-years raised their hands, and Galina turned her nose away from me, clearly still upset that a twin soul was walking around.

  ‘I’m sure she would rather us have quit by now or be imprisoned in the academy dungeon . . . if there is one,’ Fern said, annoyed.

  I mentally shrugged.

  Well, I can’t blame her. After all we’ve read about past twin souls, I think I’d lock me up too.

  Over the past week, I had made my nightly trips to the library despite almost being caught by Pestil that first time. I still wasn’t sure what I’d overheard, but it didn’t concern me. Instead, each night, I focused on solving the one mystery that connected me to everything: twin souls.

  Essentially, every book I opened showed me nothing but horror stories of how twin souls in the past were used by evil masterminds to try to take over the world. There was one story that told of a mageblood with a hero’s complex trying to make himself a twin soul to unite the countries. Instead, he was branded a demon and ended up causing several countries to experience famine. Each book ended like that. They left me disappointed and without any answer on what a twin soul can do or if you can reverse the process.

  Waelid stepped forward, and the playful grin that he always had on switched off, and a sharp gaze appeared. “Listen up, recruits. This is it. Your first trial. Your first true test. You’ve trained, suffered, and endured to get here. And now, the time has come to prove that you deserve to stand among the Cinders.”

  His eyes swept over us. “You could have quit. You could have taken the easy way out—gone and lived a quiet little life in Ash. You could have experienced the joy and freedom that every voidblood around the world craves, pretending none of this ever happened, pretending like the world outside isn’t there. But you didn’t.” He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over us. “You chose to stay. To fight. To carve your name into the foundation of this academy and prove that voidbloods are more than just discarded remnants of society. You decided to stay and endure with other Cinders, to join our cause because you believe in the freedom of all people out there. It is time to show your fellow voidbloods and professors that even without magic, you can be strong. Prove to them what you will prove to the world.”

  The upperclassmen let out a few cheers of approval.

  “Well said, boss!” a boy named Quill shouted.

  “That’s MY leader!” a girl with twirling blue hair cried.

  “What a speech!” another said.

  I glanced at the others. Mel stood with her arms crossed, chin raised in defiance, while Silas adjusted a new mechanism on his mechanical arm.

  “Oh boy, I can’t wait to show you all this,” he said, beaming with excitement.

  Tevin, usually loose and easygoing, had a rare look of focus in his eyes, and instead of being excited by Silas’s new invention, he focused on Waelid. Luna was unreadable as always, but there was an intent to her posture that told me she was determined and ready to go. Sora fidgeted next to Luna with her hands curled into fists, and despite her hands shaking and her right leg twitching, she did not show fear on her face.

  Waelid smirked. “It won’t be just some friendly scavenger hunt. The other houses will be out for blood. As you know, the winners get their first-years access to blood infusions a year early, and leaders like me get a nice little treat out of it too,” he said with a wink. “This is about strategy and survival. And we are at a disadvantage in the numbers game.”

  “Yeah, how exactly are we going to take on both houses when they still each have about thirty kids?” a girl named Morgan in Waelid’s group asked.

  Waelid turned and laughed. “You think the other houses are even HALF as tough as you all are? Don’t make me laugh . . . Oh wait, too late! Each of you faced challenges that would crush the other first-years. I trained you for this. Running ten miles every day, climbing hundreds of feet with weights, the intense combat practice, and everything else will be all you need. They may have the numbers, but we have the strength. Be ready for anything when we enter the trial, and don’t hold back.” He stopped for a moment and paused for everyone to quiet down. “One more thing . . . some of you won’t make it back.”

  Silence. A heavy, suffocating kind.

  Then a sharp exhale from Mel. “That’s supposed to be motivating?”

  Waelid’s smirk returned. “It’s supposed to be the truth. You want sugarcoating? You won’t find it here.” He looked over the room again, slower this time. “But let me tell you something else. The ones who do return? The ones who rise to this challenge? Why, they’ll never be the same. They’ll be stronger. Sharper. If you make it through this challenge and win, you will see the possibilities being a Cinder can do for you. And you will have laid your first brick to the glorious road of being a Cinder.”

  Something in my chest expanded, like a small firework going off my heart. Waelid wasn’t particularly inspiring to me, but what resonated with me was when he said there are possibilities when you become a Cinder. We’d learned what blood infusions could do, and we’d seen the strength they could give to someone. I had to have that power if I wanted to make any sort of motion in the current of this world.

  Fern, I said in a serious voice.

  ‘Yeah, Erik?’ he said.

  You were born into this world at a massive disadvantage, but now fate has given us a chance to change that. If we win, we get that opportunity. I will not let this chance go to waste. We will need to work together if we want to win and get that infusion. Are you with me?

  A second blooming feeling tingled in my chest, followed by my heartbeat increasing.

  ‘Yeah! With the blood infusion, we’ll finally—finally prove what we’re capable of. We won’t have to hide our twin soul power. With those powers combined we’d be unstoppable! No more being looked down on at home. No more being helpless,’ Fern said.

  Fern’s excitement surged through me, hot and unrestrained. It wasn’t just eagerness, it was desperation. It was a hunger. I clenched my fists, feeling my own pulse hammering against my skin. I didn’t want to crush his enthusiasm, but something about it unsettled me. Twin souls craved power; that’s what we learned in the library. In fact, every book we had just read this week warned of what happened when that craving went unchecked.

  But hadn’t I been chasing the same thing? From the moment I arrived in Ash, I knew power was the only way to survive here. But that had been because I wanted to find Noah and get my body back. Not because I wanted more power. But there, standing at the edge of that reality, it coiled up my spine like a live wire waiting to release. A hunger.

  I took a deep breath. I had to be ready for anything, even if it meant shutting Fern down if he pushed too far.

  Galina stepped forward, her cool gaze locking onto each of us in turn. “We move as a unit. We don’t play hero, and we don’t take unnecessary risks. The others will expect brute force. That’s not us.” Her eyes flicked to Waelid. “We’ll take a different approach.”

  Waelid nodded approvingly. “Play to your strengths. You all have them. Use them.”

  I exchanged glances with Silas, then Mel. This was happening. It was real.

  Waelid took a step back, surveying us one last time before giving a sharp nod. “Well, you know the plan. You know what’s at stake. Let’s head to the pillar, shall we?”

  Thirty minutes and almost three miles later, we finally made it to the Mouth. Deep in the center of Baldred’s Pillar was a hole that rose up high to the sky like the hollowed-out heart of a god. The cavernous chamber we stood in, a perfectly cylindrical room in the center of the pillar, was so massive that it made me feel like an insect standing at the bottom of a well. The hole above us was three hundred yards across in every direction, with walls that soared endlessly upward, disappearing into the misty glow of the first floor.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The other houses stood in formation across the chamber, House Enlil to our right, their gold-and-black uniforms pristine, their posture stiff with discipline. House Nin was to our left; their recruits were massive and silent, standing in perfectly aligned rows like a wall of statues. Even skinny Ruriel and Zenobia, from the carriage, had put on a lot more muscle since then. The Nin first-years were so muscular, they looked stronger than us. I was starting to doubt Waelid. We had been given the advantage of the first ascent since we had the fewest recruits.

  The first question we all had when the headmaster told us that was: ascend with what?

  The ceiling was open into the unknown reaches of the pillar, where an ancient elevator system once provided safe passage to the higher floors. According to Headmaster Thorn, each floor was one mile tall. But the elevator had long since been abandoned, and now, the only way up was with the devices strapped to our arms.

  Twinges, our Artifact Engineering professor, didn’t look up as we approached, too engrossed in adjusting a small dial on one of the gauntlets. His grease-streaked fingers twitched with precision as he inspected the final set of equipment.

  Silas was practically vibrating with excitement.

  “Professor, I have to say—your craftsmanship on these is beautiful,” Silas gushed, rocking back and forth on his heels like a kid in a candy store. “The garden quartz core in the wrist is cut beautifully and held in place so meticulously with copper—so much better than what they were using before. And the diamond-edged grappling tips? I mean, c’mon. This is next-level stuff.”

  Twinges let out a noncommittal grunt.

  Undeterred, Silas pressed on. “The reinforced coil mechanism should allow for faster retraction speed, right? Oh! And the upgraded stabilization gyros—”

  “Uh-huh,” Twinges cut him off, shoving a gauntlet into his chest without so much as looking up. “Next.”

  Silas barely seemed to notice the brush-off, already examining the gauntlet with gleaming eyes.

  Morgan, from Waelid’s team, leaned toward me and muttered, “He does realize Twinges doesn’t like people, right?”

  I smirked but kept my mouth shut.

  As we moved forward in line, I got a closer look at the gauntlets. The design was sleek—matte black with thin gold veins tracing along the forearm casing like circuitry. The grappling hook was embedded in the knuckle section, the firing mechanism primed by a trigger in the palm. The quartz crystal in the wrist pulsed faintly, storing, I assumed, the energy needed to launch and retract the cable with rapid precision.

  Twinges finally reached me. His sharp gray eyes flickered up for a brief moment, then back down. He grabbed a gauntlet from the stack and—

  Clatter.

  The gauntlet slipped from his grip, hitting the stone floor with a sharp metallic clang.

  An awkward silence stretched between us.

  “Oops,” Twinges muttered, bending down to retrieve it. His voice was strained—an uncharacteristic nervousness threading through the usual monotony.

  I frowned, a prickle of unease creeping up my spine.

  ‘What was that about? It’s like he recognized us or something,’ Fern’s voice whispered in the back of my head. ‘That was weird, right?’

  Yeah. That was weird. Did he not look at us in class? I thought.

  Twinges handed me the gauntlet without another word, already moving on to the next student. I turned it over in my hands, inspecting it, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was identical to the others.

  Still, something about the way he had reacted unsettled me.

  Before I could dwell on it, Tevin stepped up beside me, strapping his gauntlet onto his arm. “Professor,” he asked, “why the sudden upgrades? These weren’t like this when we first assembled at the beginning of the week.”

  Twinges let out a dry chuckle. “Ah, well, Professor Pestil requested modifications.”

  That caught my attention. I felt Fern perk up too.

  “He wanted increased pillardust-collection capabilities,” Twinges continued, adjusting a dial on the gauntlet Jacehad just received. “Said it was necessary for research purposes—helps the school, helps the academy, helps all of you in the long run. More dust means better refinements for future tools and enhancements.”

  Pestil . . . again, I thought.

  I tightened the straps on my gauntlet.

  Fern exhaled sharply. ‘I don’t trust him.’

  Neither do I.

  “Any other questions?” Twinges asked flatly.

  No one spoke.

  “Good.” He turned away, already dismissing us. “Try not to break them before the trial even starts.”

  We stepped away from the equipment station and rejoined Galina, who had been silently observing the exchange from a few paces back.

  “Check your equipment. Make sure everything is secure. We move out soon,” she said to the six of us.

  I flexed my hand, feeling the gauntlet adjust to my movements. The crystal hummed faintly, a steady pulse against my wrist.

  Mel cracked her knuckles. “I just want to start already.”

  “Patience,” Galina said, glancing toward the towering walls of the Mouth of the pillar.

  Above us, the vast emptiness of the first floor loomed, waiting.

  Not long now.

  The air inside the Mouth of the pillar vibrated with restless energy. Seventy-five recruits stood in formation across the massive cylindrical cavern. The murmurs of recruits from all three houses died down as Headmaster Thorn raised a gloved hand. His sharp eyes swept across the assembled students, taking in the restless anticipation, the barely restrained nerves.

  “Welcome, recruits,” he began. “Today, you step into history. Every generation before you has stood here, gazing up at the unknown, ready to carve their names into the bones of this pillar. Some rose to greatness. Some . . . were not so fortunate. The practical trial is simple in its goal but ruthless in execution.” Thorn gestured toward the towering expanse above us. “Six scrollguards—ancient reptilian beasts of forgotten knowledge—prowl the first floor. These beasts carry scrolls on their backs, each inscribed with knowledge lost to time. Your task? Retrieve two scrolls for your house. No more, no less.”

  His mustache twitched as he glanced at each house leader in turn. “How you achieve this . . . is up to you. Work together or against one another. Hunt alone or strike as a pack. The pillar does not care for fairness—only for results.”

  A ripple of unease spread through the recruits.

  Thorn’s tone darkened. “Every cycle, the pillar revives what was lost. These scrollguards are not mere beasts—they are one with the pillar. They are reborn through an ancient power, and through that power, lost knowledge is found. We do not yet understand why, but the scrollguards make for a perfect yearly test for first-years. They will not fall easily.”

  He stepped forward, clasping his hands behind his back.

  “There will be no interference from your instructors. No lifelines. No second chances. The first house to return with two scrolls wins. The rest? You will leave empty-handed.”

  His gaze flickered to the massive stone wall behind him, glowing faintly with thousands of etched names. “Some of you may not return at all. If that fate finds you, know that your name will be remembered.”

  Silence. A heavy pause that made the cavern feel suffocating.

  Then Thorn exhaled sharply, breaking the tension. “And with that . . . let us begin.”

  A horn blast rang through the chamber.

  “House Anu—you launch first.”

  Waelid’s voice boomed over us.

  “House Anu—prepare for launch!”

  “Wait, we don’t even know how to use these things!” Sora screamed out.

  “It’s easier than it looks,” Luna said, leaning over. “Just trust it.” She gave Sora a smile.

  I had the same concern, but here goes nothing.

  ‘Gods, please protect my body. Please, protect my body,’ Fern prayed.

  A deep horn blast echoed through the cavern, signaling the start of the ascent.

  “I will go first,” Waelid said, looking over his shoulder with a smile. “Just follow your handsome leader.”

  Silence.

  Then—

  Thwip!

  The upperclassman shot his gauntlet into the hole above, like he was a superhero taking off. His grapple hit the wall, and a whizzing noise came from his gauntlet.

  “See you up there,” he said with a wave, and then shot up with ease, his silhouette vanishing into the mist above.

  “All right, recruits! You heard your leader. No fear! He beat that out of you and only half remained. You can do this.”

  My hands started to sweat as I suddenly remembered I was a little afraid of heights.

  “Just aim up into the mist and fire. When you arrive at your first grapple point, hit the second switch with your pinky, turn, aim the second hook, and fire again. I will NOT repeat myself, and you WILL die if you mess that up,” Galina barked.

  A second horn blared.

  I took a deep breath, aimed into the hole of mist above me, and fired. All at once, fifteen grappling hooks fired upward, cables whistling through the air as they embedded into the sheer stone walls.

  Then—the retraction mechanism engaged, and I was yanked off the ground.

  Wind roared in my ears as the world rushed past me. The cavern floor shrank below, recruits turning into dark specks against the stone. I swung my legs, shifting my center of gravity as I hurtled toward the first ledge.

  THUMP.

  I slammed into the wall, absorbing the impact with my legs before immediately firing again. The next hook embedded higher, and I released the first cable, swinging into motion. I quickly got the hang of it, and if I just kept moving, I didn’t get scared.

  All around me, the House Anu recruits ascended in unison, their dark figures darting upward like spiders on invisible threads.

  Tevin let out a wild laugh. “THIS IS AWESOME!”

  “Focus, big guy!” Silas called, adjusting the trajectory of his mechanical arm as he shot upward with calculated precision. Silas had added a grapple gauntlet to his mechanical arm, so he was not having as much of an easy time with it.

  Mel’s form was all raw aggression and efficiency, moving like a predator scaling a cliff side, each launch perfectly controlled. She would repeatedly stop to turn around and shout harsh words of encouragement.

  “Stop being a baby and keep moving!” she shouted at Sora.

  Sora pouted she hung on the wall. “You know, sometimes it’s like you guys don’t even appreciate how far I’ve come. It’s freaky trusting these things! I mean what . . . Powered by crystals? I still don’t get that whole thing!”

  “Shut up! I said, keep moving!” Mel yelled.

  Sora gritted her teeth, threw herself into the next grapple, and swung her small frame over. She landed on the wall and quickly turned around to climb even higher to avoid more chastising by Mel.

  Luna, as always, was unreadable. She moved with eerie grace, almost as if she had done this before. At points, it looked like she was even climbing the walls like a cat.

  We climbed, higher and higher, the cylinder of the pillar stretching endlessly above us. Mist curled along the upper ledges, concealing what lay beyond.

  A hundred yards up. Two hundred.

  Then—

  Crack.

  A jagged outcrop of rock above us suddenly crumbled, sending debris tumbling down in a deadly cascade.

  “WATCH OUT!” I shouted.

  Mel cursed, yanking her grappling hook to the side just in time. A chunk of stone the size of a small cart plummeted through the air—right toward the wall Sora hung on.

  She froze.

  “MOVE!” Luna barked, already in motion.

  Then I watched in awe as Luna released her grappling hook completely, dropping through the air—right toward Sora.

  ‘WHAT IS SHE DOING?!’ Fern shouted.

  In one fluid motion, Luna shot another grappling hook near Sora and pulled herself toward her, twisting mid-fall and kicking the boulder out of the way.

  Sora gasped. “Luna, thank—”

  “Don’t thank me yet! There could be more,” Luna snapped.

  For a second, I didn’t understand.

  Then—I heard it.

  The world exploded in sound. Boulders and stone tumbled down at us from above.

  “KEEP MOVING!” Galina shouted.

  Cables shot out and we all scrambled up the walls, doing our best to dodge the falling debris. Galina and Waelid screamed out directions to avoid the rocks while they copied Luna’s idea of timing kicks to knock the boulders away.

  The final ascent was a blur of instinct and motion.

  We climbed. We swung. We flew. And we dodged.

  Sharp chips of rock flew past me like hail, and occasionally larger boulders, some as big as a person, would fly past, just barely missing me. My mind didn’t have time to process. Instinct drove everything.

  And then—

  We reached the ledge.

  One final retraction of my gauntlet swung me high in the air out of the cylinder chasm. I landed in a crouch, boots scraping against solid stone. My breathing was ragged, my pulse hammering.

  One by one, the others landed beside me, panting but alive.

  A moment of silence.

  Then a slow clap.

  Waelid stood at the edge, arms crossed, watching us with a smirk of approval.

  “Well,” he said, voice light but edged with something like pride. “I gotta admit. That was pretty impressive, not a single loss!”

  We had made it.

  The first level of the pillar stretched before us, an endless rainforest canopy that disappeared into mist and shadows. The real trial was just beginning.

  I flexed my fingers, feeling the power humming in my veins.

  Fern stirred in my mind.

  ‘Now the fun begins. Now we can let loose.’

  CAN A HEALER SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE... ALONE?

  ?

  Fantasy LitRPG Adventure Psychological Progression

  When Matt's vacation was cut short, he didn't expect the end of the world to be the reason, but that was exactly what happened when the system made itself known, integrating Earth into the multiverse. Yet his misfortunes didn't end there, as he discovered that not only had he been separated from his friends, he had also been rejected from the tutorial.

  An endless desert, a strange country, and a class he never asked for, are some of what Matt has to contend with as he attempts to navigate this new system and his new reality. It's a fight for survival, but also a new beginning, one he had long wished for. Will he be able to survive in isolation until his friends and the rest of humanity has returned to Earth, or will the hardships of this new reality break him first?

  Witness the start of a new LitRPG, where Matt and his friends, now separated by the vastness of the multiverse, fight to make a name for themselves, to achieve a dream they've long held, and most importantly, to survive.

  * A Tale of Survival & Revenge *